“It felt like an
electric spark.”
Merle Wilkes remembered the
moment from eighty years ago as
if it were yesterday. “There was no
such thing as dating. If my four older
brothers were going to something at
night, my parents let me go with them.
Those we
remember well
That was the only reason I got to go to
the school cookout that night down at
the river.”
Even though J. C. Wilkes, a firstyear
student at the University of
Georgia (UGA), had graduated from
Lyons High School the year before, he
and Merle had never met before that
night at the river. When J.C. asked
Merle if she would like to go for a ride
with another couple, she said, “I don’t
know. You’ll have to ask my brothers.”
To his credit, J.C. accepted the
challenge and faced the Pye brothers’
questions and interrogations. “They let
him know in no uncertain terms what
was expected of him on that car ride,
and they never let him forget it,” she
laughed and added, “They teased about
that for years.”
72 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE
Catching up with Mrs. Merle Wilkes